A typical electronic percussion instrument is provided with a sensor that detects the vibration of a striking surface caused by striking the striking surface. Conventionally, to prevent erroneous tone generation due to noise, or the like, a threshold is provided. The threshold and an output value from the sensor are compared, and the tone generation is controlled. (See, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application HEI 10-20854.) More specifically, when the output value from the sensor exceeds the threshold, it is determined that the sensor has detected the vibration of the striking surface caused by striking, and a tone is generated. On the other hand, when the output value from the sensor is below the threshold, it is determined that the vibration detected by the sensor is caused by noise or the like, and a tone is not generated.
When tone generation is controlled based on comparison of the output value from the sensor with a threshold, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection that may be caused by noise. However, weak striking during performance might not be detected and, occasionally, sounds that are supposed to be pronounced might not be generated.